CHAPTER 16
HIS CHAIR FELT WEIRD.
Ben bounced up and down on it a few times, spun it side to side.
It was exactly like the chair in his old office, but something was off. He’d been fiddling with it all week to no avail.
In an attempt to ignore the vast piles of paperwork crowding his desk—account directors spent far more time with file folders than human beings—Ben glanced around his new corner office. But instead of admiring his beautiful view of downtown Seattle, his gaze focused on the picture he’d hung on the dull gray wall across from his desk. The frame was crooked again.
Ben got up and walked over, nudging the bottom right corner higher so that he and his dad and the cabin were square.
“So what do you think, Pop? Pretty fancy digs, huh?”
The picture tilted listlessly to the right in response. Ben nodded. “I hear ya.”
He pulled the frame off the wall just as a knock sounded on the door. He could tell by the timid rap that it was his new assistant. Lana had always burst right in.
“Come on in, Nancy.”
“Mr. Masterson—”
“Just Ben,” he reminded her, walking back to his desk. The brunette smiled shyly before proceeding to call him nothing at all. “Mr. Carson and Mr. McLeod would like to see you in Mr. Carson’s office as soon as possible. Also, a Mr. Laroche from Allies Real Estate called about some lakefront property. He’s asked you to call him back at this number when you’re free.”
Ben accepted the yellow message slip. “Thanks.”
She dipped her head and disappeared out the door.
Ben glanced at the paper and dropped it onto his desk.
With the framed photo still clutched in his right hand, he headed to his boss’s office.
Carson’s assistant, Doris, was on the phone, but she waved him in as soon as he’d exited the elevator. He smiled his thanks and stepped through the glass door.
“There’s our new account director!” Rob Carson was as genial as ever. “Have a seat.”
Ben sat in the leather visitor’s chair, placing the frame on his lap. “Mr. Carson. Mr. McLeod,” he greeted. “Before we begin, I just want to take this chance to thank you both for this amazing promotion and to let you know that I’m resigning, effective immediately.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
Ben exhaled and straightened his tie. “I said I quit.”
Carson turned a shade of tomato that probably didn’t bode well for his blood pressure, and Hugh McLeod was so still that Ben couldn’t be certain he hadn’t calcified.
“I really appreciate the opportunities you have given me, and I’ve learned a lot here, but creating ad campaigns isn’t what I want to do with my life. Chloe’s been trying to tell me that all along, but I was too blinded by pride to see that she was right. I don’t belong here.”
“Your wife told you to quit?” Carson demanded.
“Oh, she’s not my wife,” Ben corrected him. “We met on my business trip to Buffalo. But when Edward Burke came to my hotel room that morning, well, I did what I had to do to get his business.”
“So you’ve been lying to us ever since you landed the Hotel Burke account?”
Ben nodded. “Pretty much.”
“That dedication is exactly what we like about you, Ben. You do whatever it takes to close a deal,” McLeod said matter-of-factly. “Which is why we offered you this job.”
“And ironically, that’s why I’m turning it down. Because I don’t want to be a guy who lies, especially to myself. I want to help people grow their ideas into something special. I want to run a business built on integrity, one that I can be proud of. And that’s why I can’t accept this promotion.”
Ben reached into the breast pocket of his gray suit—the one he’d worn the day he’d met Chloe—and pulled out an envelope. He slid it onto Rob Carson’s desk as he stood.
“Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to get to the mall.”
“Not so fast,” Carson said, picking up his phone. “Yes, security? We’re going to need a walk-out on the tenth floor.”
With a maniacal sigh, Ben sat back down.
* * *
“RECEIPT IN THE bag okay?” At the woman’s nod, Chloe handed over the purchase. “Here you go. Enjoy your new eye shadow palette and thank you for shopping at Titanium Beauty.”
Chloe’s salesgirl smile faded the moment the woman turned away from the counter. Monday was dragging.
“Josh, I’m going on my break,” she called, and he nodded. Chloe grabbed her purse from the back room and headed out into the mall, toward the food court.
There was a gaggle of teenage girls chatting by one of the fountains, and Chloe slurped at the cardboard keg of cola she’d just purchased, trying her best not to give in to self-pity. But being on lunch break at her mall job, her name tag pinned above her left boob, didn’t make her feel like she’d reached the pinnacle of achievement, that was for sure.
Her makeup application with Joanna, though—now that had felt like a real accomplishment. Joanna had been really happy with the results, and just the memory of the consultation made her sit a bit taller. But one paying gig wasn’t going to keep a roof over her head, so until she could grow her business, Chloe had decided Titanium Beauty was preferable to unemployment. And the makeup discount was nice.
Chloe sighed. A big unapologetic one. Because Ben would have hated it. And because he was right. She had been taking the easy way out. Chloe grabbed her phone out of her purse and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“What’s wrong? Why are you calling me? You never call me.”
Chloe resisted the urge to say something snarky. This was about the truth. “Nothing’s wrong, Mom. I just felt like calling.” As much as she’d hated that business dinner and the persona she’d so easily slipped into, the experience had also given her some insight into her mother. So she supposed some good had come out of the bad.
“Chloe Marie, I’m your mother. I know it pains you to admit that, but I am. And I can tell when you’re not okay.”
“It’s just…” Chloe gazed down at her left hand. The stupid ring had been haunting her all week. She hated wearing it, but she couldn’t take it off. “It’s Ben.”
“Did you two have a fight? I know that can be upsetting, but all couples have their spats.”
Now or never. “We’re not engaged.”
“You broke up?”
“No, Mom. We were never dating. It was a lie. I lied to you. I was helping him out because his bosses heard he was married, and then Caroline saw the ring and, well, you two were so happy with me, and I just…let you go on believing it.”
“You’re not engaged? But, Chloe, he was so good for you!”
Chloe’s laugh sounded bitter, even to her. “Yes, he was good for me. Gainfully employed and well-mannered with a closet full of designer suits. In short, the perfect son-in-law. Everything I’m looking for in a man.”
A tense silence descended, so thick it seemed to Chloe that even the ambient food court noise had been muted. Then, in a soft voice she barely recognized as her mother’s, “You always think the worst of me, don’t you?”
The question took Chloe aback.
“I find Benjamin,” there was a deep breath on the other end of the line, “Ben,” she said pointedly, “to be personable and quite in love with my daughter. So yes. He has my approval. Not that you care a whit about that. But when I said he was good for you, I meant that he’s good for you. You’re happy when you’re with him. Vibrant. Not my complicated little girl anymore. A woman.”
Chloe ran her index finger along her cup, tracing a line in the condensation.
“Despite what you believe, Chloe, despite the clashes in our ideologies and the differences in our priorities, you’re my daughter and I just want the best for you. And I know that means I have to stay out of your life and let you make your own choices. Which is very difficult for me. But I’m trying. Because I want you to be happy.”
Chloe went still for a moment and she had to try twice to get any words to come out. “Thank you, Mom. That means a lot.”
“Now, all that being said, do not ruin this relationship. Ben is the most appropriate man who’s been interested in you since I set you up with Bryce Willington Jr. just before you moved to Seattle. Now he was quite the catch. Muriel’s daughter scooped him right up after you left. I told you someone would! And I—”
“Gotta get back to work, Mom. Thanks for the chat.” Chloe ended the call, a million thoughts whirling through her head.
She looked down at her left hand. At the ring she couldn’t bring herself to take off. And why? Because her fake engagement to Ben was the best relationship she’d ever been in. If Ben had taught her anything, it was that sometimes you just had to seize the opportunity that was in front of you.
Because, as it turned out, her mother was right. Ben was good for her.
She’d known it from the start. She’d just been too scared to believe it.
But she wasn’t scared anymore.
* * *
UNLIKE THE LAST time Ben had been here, Titanium Beauty was empty today. He was relieved to recognize the employee standing at the cash register, flipping though a magazine.
“Hey, you’re Chloe’s friend. Josh, right? Thanks for helping us out on Saturday night.”
The other man stared at him for a long, silent moment, then said, “Ohmygawd.”
“I, uh… I’m looking for Chloe. Have you seen her?”
“Ohmygawd! You are not going to believe this, but you just missed her. Like just missed her. She came running back from her break to grab her coat because she was going to find you!” Josh sighed. “I’m living in a rom-com.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“No idea, big guy. She just said, ‘I’m going to find Ben,’ and took off.”
Well, she was either headed to his place or to his work. And since he was not technically allowed on the premises of Carson and McLeod, he supposed that left him only one destination.
* * *
“I’M LOOKING FOR Ben Masterson.”
The receptionist at the posh offices of Carson and McLeod shot her such a bored glare that Chloe half expected her to whip out a nail file, just to perfect the tableau. “May I ask what this is about?”
“I just need to see my… I need to talk to Ben. Is he here?”
The woman sighed and just for a moment there was a glimpse of sadness in her pretty face. “I’m afraid not. Mr. Masterson no longer works at Carson and McLeod.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Mr. Masterson is no longer employed at the firm. I’m afraid I can’t give you any further information.”
“But I have to find him. Did he go home? Is he okay?”
Chloe’s genuine panic seemed to strike a chord with the brunette. Her eyes dropped briefly to Chloe’s chest, and Chloe realized she’d forgotten to remove her name tag. “You’re her. The girl Ben was looking for last week!”
And just like that, she and the secretary were old friends. The woman leaned forward in her chair and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Look, you didn’t hear this from me, but from what I’ve gathered, he got called into Carson’s office this morning to sign all the papers for his promotion to account director, but instead he quit. The big boss men were not amused, and some yelling ensued, but Ben wouldn’t back down. Then he got frog-marched off the property.
“It’s against company policy for terminated employees to talk to anyone on their way out of the building, so when you find him, be sure to tell him Lana misses him, okay?”
“Sure. And thank you.”
“No problem. And killer makeup, by the way.”
Chloe rushed back to the elevator and hit the down button a couple of times in quick succession.
Ben didn’t work here anymore? She worried her bottom lip. Was this because of her? If his bosses had discovered they weren’t really married, that the entire dinner had been a sham, they might have—
The metal doors slid open with a ding, interrupting her thoughts. And then she recognized the lone occupant of the elevator.
Great.
“Chloe?”
Melanie. Looking perfect and lawyerly in a skirt, heels and a fancy black coat with leather trim. Her hair was perfect, her makeup flawless—if a little tame—and she was carrying a freaking briefcase!
Chloe snatched her Titanium Beauty name tag off with undue haste. The magnet that had held it in place slipped down the front of her shirt and bounced on the carpet. She abandoned it in the name of retaining some modicum of cool. “Oh, hey.”
“Hi! What a surprise. I was just dropping something off for my father.”
Chloe shrugged ambivalently, but stepped inside, cursing her horrible timing as the elevator doors slid closed behind her. Her name plate bit into her palm, she was fisting it so tightly.
“I didn’t expect you to come here, now that Ben, well… What are you doing here, anyway?” Melanie asked. Chloe could see the questions in her eyes.
“Ben left something behind,” Chloe said, not willing to admit that she wasn’t his wife and was unaware he didn’t work here anymore. Not to this woman who’d been so condescending. “A pair of cuff links that he really likes. A lot. He thought he might have left them in his desk…when he was, uh, packing his stuff up…and I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d check for him. You know. Wife stuff.”
“Of course. Wife stuff.” Melanie dropped her eyes to her briefcase. And then, in a rush she said, “Chloe, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night. I was way out of line.”
Chloe blinked. She certainly hadn’t been expecting that. “No big deal.”
“It was. I’m a lawyer who built a name for herself defending feminism, and the next thing I know, I’m acting like a total bitch to my ex-boyfriend’s new wife.”
Chloe couldn’t have been more shocked if Melanie had punched her in the face. In fact, an elevator brawl seemed a more plausible scenario.
“I was jealous. So I elbowed my way into your home, and when I saw you wearing the ring, the ring he bought for me… Well, we’re very different people, aren’t we?” she asked.
Chloe looked down at her companion’s perfectly manicured fingers, polished in a pale shade of pink. A ginormous engagement ring–wedding band combo glittered on her ring finger. From the man she’d chosen over Ben. Stupid mistake. Because Ben was amazing, and Melanie hadn’t noticed. But Chloe had. And she was going to do something about it. “Yeah. We really are.”
“But I can tell you two belong together. You bring out this side of him, this fearless side.” Melanie laughed, but it was forced. “I mean, do you know how long I tried to get him to decorate his last condo?”
The elevator opened and they stepped into the bustling lobby.
“I acted like a petulant child whose toy had been stolen, and I am not only embarrassed, I’m deeply sorry. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Sure, yes. Thank you.” Chloe nodded, unwillingly impressed with the woman in front of her. “And I’m sorry too. For being a jerk. And for thinking you were a stuck-up bitch.”
Melanie’s chuckle was genuine this time. “I appreciate that. And Chloe? Take care of him. Ben’s one of the good guys.” With that, she turned and strode out of the building and disappeared into the chilly Seattle morning.
It was, Chloe figured, the most grown-up conversation she’d ever taken part in. And it felt pretty damn good. Like she could handle anything.
Including getting her fiancé back.